Progress Amid Resistance

406 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAre strict interactions between unrelated men and women, and some areas ofthe public sphere such as workplaces and public schools are largely segregated.Law No. 5 of 2007 permits adult women to obtain a passport withoutthe permission of a male guardian and they are not legally required tohave a male guardian’s approval to travel abroad, but few women travelalone. Men can prevent female relatives from leaving the country by givingtheir names to immigration officers at departure ports, but women in thissituation may appeal to the NHRC to intervene on their behalf.Employers often restrict the freedom of movement of noncitizen women,particularly domestic workers, and their ability to travel abroad. 20 Employersmust give consent before exit permits are issued to foreign workers wishingto leave the country. 21 The NHRC reported in 2006 that more than 200non-Qatari women were detained in deportation centers in unhealthy conditions.While some of the women have been detained to provide themshelter, others are kept in detention at the request of their sponsors. 22Largely as a result of the advocacy of the SCWA, Qatar ratified the newfamily law in 2006 that regulates engagements, marriage contracts, separationand divorce, child custody, guardianship, and inheritance, among otherthings. Where the law makes no specific proscriptions, it allows judges todraw upon any of the four main Islamic legal schools in rendering decisionswhen appropriate. For non-Muslims the law stipulates that theircases be determined by “the respective laws of the groups concerned.” 23Women are now granted custody of boys up to the age of 13 and girls upto the age of 15; previously, mothers lost custody once boys turned sevenand girls hit puberty. 24 Fathers, however, retain the guardianship and theright to gain custody of older children should they so desire.Women have the legal right to negotiate a marriage contract, whichmay grant them greater rights than those guaranteed by law, but they donot have full and equal freedom to choose their marriage partner. Whilea woman’s consent is necessary for a marriage contract to be legal, Article28 of the family law stipulates that her guardian carries out the contracton her behalf, ultimately subjecting her choice of husband to the guardian’sapproval. If the guardian is not present, a prospective bride can askthe judge to carry out the contract instead. Both husband and wife mayin clude conditions in the marriage contract and both are legally requiredto uphold such conditions.The high profile case of Hamda Fahad Jassem al-Thani, a member ofthe ruling family, illustrates an extreme example of the extent to which a